Keeping on the 8-bit tip, newly released as a freely downloadable NES rom file is Streemerz, a game with a somewhat twisted history by indie dev Arthur ‘Mr. Podunkian’ Lee (previously noted here for 8bitar Hero, an experimental game which generated Rock Band note charts based on someone playing an NES game, all in real time).

Originally created as Flash game “inspired” by (in the least reverential sense) a long forgotten minigame on the infamously shabby unlicensed NES cart Action 52 (seen in the video above), Streemerz became a Bionic Commando meets VVVVVV-ish platformer that was remarkably compelling, considering its source material.

While that original version’s still available to play in-browser or as a PC download, Lee’s closed the loop entirely and worked with Finnish developer Kalle Immonen to release the for-real 8-bit version via the latter’s Fauxgame site, playable in your favorite emulator or on actual hardware (for those with the will and the way to shell out for a USB NES flashcart), and now joining Zooming Secretary and Track & Feel II as the best NES games of the 21st century. [via Lamar Abrams]

A little Friday afternoon art interlude: Starting in early 2011, illustrator Campbell Whyte set himself up for a gargantuan task: taking all of the nearly 800 games released for the NES and doing a watercolor sketch a day based on each, more or less in alphabetical order. Surprisingly, it’s a pace he’s actually kept quite well, and the results are an awesomely stylized take on each, giving even the duds a fantastic facelift.

Above is a retrospective of the first 375 of the “8 bit dreams”, which you can browse more leisurely on Whyte’s blog, or find many still up for sale at his Etsy shop. If he hasn’t already covered one you’d like to see, commission him to prioritize via the shop & end up with the original itself.